Designed for electric guitarists who want to switch between up to four different amplifiers onstage, the Radial Engineering Headlight is a stompbox pedal with one footswitch that allows you to choose between two output paths, and another that lets you either mute all the amps, or route signal through all connected units simultaneously. When toggled to mute, signal will still flow to the tuner output, so you can tune in silence.
This pedal also features polarity switches on outputs two, three, and four; if one amplifier is out of phase with another, tightening the signal becomes as easy as flipping this toggle. Additionally, three ground-lift switches fight against hum and buzz often caused by ground loops.
The Headlight utilizes a buffered circuit path, which in other cases might very well sound too clean; however, you’ll find a potentiometer, which adjusts a proprietary load-correction circuit, effectively emulating the impedance of your amplifier and obviating any tonal issues introduced by the buffered circuit path.
The Headlight uses 14-gauge steel, shielding, and military-spec circuit board in its construction, which contributes to its reliability. These provide protection against stray magnetic fields, allowing the controls and switches to remain free from interference. To accommodate pedalboards, this pedal works with standard 9V connections, thus facilitating easy powering from your typical pedalboard power brick.